ARTICLE WRITING
Marks allotment
• Format (Heading and Writer’s name)01 mark
• Content 04 marks
• Expression 05 marks
• (Grammatical accuracy, appropriate words and spellings. 2.5 m )
• (Coherence and relevance of ideas and style. 2.5 m)
• Word limit :
Total 10 marks
FORMAT OF AN ARTICLE
HEADING
BYLINE
BODY
PARAGRAPH 1
PARAGRAPH 2
PARAGRAPH 3
PARAGRAPH 4
Strategies for writing an effective article
Understand the topic to be elaborated.
Brainstorm, collect and plan your main ideas
and points before writing the first draft.
Revise and make the necessary changes in the
second or final draft.
I Para
Begin it by introducing the situation/ person/
services/ problem that you would like to
elaborate.
II Para & III Para
Expand the points. Express your opinion clearly
and concisely. Give examples if required.
• In the concluding paragraph, give polite suggestions
or make requests, appeals. Round up your main
viewpoint or opinion in a line or two.
• For controlling the length of the sentence, do not
use more than one conjunction in a sentence. This
helps to maintain grammatical accuracy.
• Think about the situation – whether it’s continuing,
was in the past or is likely to continue or occur in
the future. Then, decide the tense/various tenses to
be used, before you start writing.
• Avoid abbreviations. Do not use slang.
• Use transitional words like moreover,
furthermore, in addition to and hence to connect
points within a paragraph or connect paragraphs.
But do not overuse them. They help in
cohesion(organisation,unity) of the content.
• Avoid repetition of ideas and words. Use
appropriate synonyms to add variety to your
expression. Phrasal verbs also help to improve
the expression.
CONTENT : Give sufficient number of points/
ideas.
FLUENCY: Give the introduction, the main body
and conclusion. One paragraph should be
smoothly connected with the next. Transitional
words may help you here.
ACCURACY: Write to the point, include relevant
ideas, be careful about spellings and
grammatical accuracy.
LAYOUT: Adhere to the recommended format
and present your work neatly.
EXPRESSION: Add variety to your vocabulary.
BUILDING CONTENT
If you are dealing with a social problem think of the following areas to
build the content-
Misuse of water- overwatering lawns and
washing cars, driveways
Leakage in taps and pipes
CAUSES
Allowing water to run unnecessarily
Throwing away surplus, stored water
Shortage of running water
Lower water table
EFFECTS
Great discomfort, household chores
become tedious
Unhygienic conditions in public
places/ homes
Spread awareness regarding importance of
water through media, documentary film,
rallies, posters
Heavy fines for overwatering
SUGGESTIONS lawns and other misuse of water
Rainwater harvesting to be
encouraged
Points to be considered while writing your views
on the development of a specific field
LETTERS ,
POSTERS,
POSTAL
TELEPHONE
FACILITIES
MEANS OF
COMMUNICATION
COMPUTER- NEWSPAPERS,
E-MAILS, JOURNALS,
WEBSITES PUBLIC SPEECHES
TELEVISIO
N, RADIO
SAMPLE ARTICLE # 1
Grow More Trees to Reduce Pollution
Radhika
“Trees are poems the earth writes upon the sky.”
Trees and plants are one of the main reasons why mankind came
into existence. The importance of planting trees has been
emphasized time and again. This is because of the numerous
benefits they offer.
They make the world a better place to live in. They exhale oxygen
and inhale carbon dioxide to maintain the ecological balance in
the environment. They also absorb all the harmful gases and give
us fresh air to breathe.
Trees build a sheet to protect us from the harmful ultraviolet rays.
Not only this, they serve as a habitat for birds and various species
of animals. This is not it. Trees help in controlling water
pollution and preventing soil erosion.
The places inhabited by large numbers of trees are quite cooler
compared to the concrete jungles that cannot do without air
conditioners. Unfortunately, urbanisation is leading to clearing of
forests and parks despite the numerous benefits they offer.
People go to the parks for morning walks, evening strolls, yoga
sessions and laughter therapy. These also serve as a safe place for the
kids to play and socialise. The only way left to preserve them and reap
these benefits is by growing them at a faster rate.
As a Chinese proverb states, “The best time to plant a tree was 20
years ago. The second best time is now.” So do your bit and make this
place more beautiful.
SAMPLE ARTICLE #2
SAVE WATER- ARE WE DOING ENOUGH?
JIBIN MATHEW GEORGE
Clean, fresh water is a limited resource. With all the severe droughts
happening in the world, the limited supply of fresh water is becoming one of
our most precious resources. Every person on earth needs water to survive.
Without it, many of us would get sick and even result in death.
Droughts have also become more frequent, more severe, and affecting more
people around the world. As many as four billion people already live in
regions that experience severe water stress for at least one month of the
year. With populations rising, these stresses will only mount.
Water is an essential nutrient and plays a key role in the human body. We
can survive up to several weeks without food, but only a few days without
water. Every system in the body, from cells and tissues, to vital organs
requires water to function. It carries nutrients to all cells in our body and
oxygen to our brain, allows the body to absorb and assimilate minerals,
flushes out toxins and waste and helps to regulate body temperature
Water is the precious gift of God on earth. Life exists on the earth
because of the availability of water. Itself being tasteless, odourless
and colourless, it adds taste, colour and nice smell in the life of living
beings on the Earth.
We need to follow various strategies to save clean drinking water and
deal with the water scarcity. Rain water harvesting is one of the most
effective and suitable methods among save water techniques.
Deforestation is also a good method as it reduces the surface runoff
and recharges the groundwater. It promotes underground water
conservation. By practicing such methods we can conserve more water
naturally and ensure its availability for future generations. We
should take a pledge and make it a lifelong motto to preserve water
because,
“If you conserve water, you conserve life.”
SAMPLE ARTICLE # 3
COMMON MAN’s WOES DURING MONSOON
Sumit/ Smita Verma
The much awaited monsoon brings respite from the scorching heat. But
monsoon and madness walk together. Every year during the monsoons,
chaos reigns supreme. The roads are flooded; the sewage system collapses;
a huge loss of crops, fruits, life, and property is caused. Water logging and
breeding of mosquitoes together becomes the reason for a lot of people
falling ill. Network connectivity gets weak.
In spite of 73 years of independence, the Indian Government has not been
able to tackle the flood problem caused by monsoons. Recent floods have
laid bare the hollowness of the claims of the civic authorities of their
preparedness. The poor had to bear the brunt of the problem.
There are problems brought on by road expansion works and drainage
projects, and with the onset of monsoon these issues get aggravated. The
roads turn into muddy pools which locks the flow of transportation.
Moreover, people are forced to use alternative routes which suffer the
same problems as of other localities.
At times, the authorities concerned spend the budget on road
construction for the sake of spending it, without getting into
the depth of the issue.
One of the causes behind this chaos is the lack of strict laws
and accountability of the officials and the Ministries
responsible for tackling the floods.
The Government does formulate and pass strict laws
regarding the projects launched to relieve people of their
distress but there is hardly a sign of effective implementation
of the schemes. There needs to be strict accountability.
When the Ministers will be accountable, they will ensure the
officers, officials involved in the projects surely create
foolproof systems. It is only through strict accountability laws
the system can be made efficient. All that we do is curse the
authorities and keep on walking on the same muddy roads or
pray for an early end to monsoon.